Yummy Black Bean Salsa

A month or so ago I was looking around on allrecipes.com and decided that I wanted to make some black bean salsa. Making things here is always a bit of a challenge, since I can't always find the ingredients. So I took a few recipes, tweaked them to the way that we like and threw some things together and came up with this. Granted, it is a little different every time that I make it, but that is how a good salsa is.

I guess technically this really isn't salsa. My friends from Mexico remind me that for it to be salsa the ingredients have to be ground together with a mortar and pestle and the vegetables are usually cooked slightly by roasting them. So, I guess it is really a black bean pico de gallo, if you want to be Mexicanally correct (like that word I made up?)



This is what the left overs looked like..... yep, I should have taken a picture first, but just thought about sharing it after we had all ready devoured a large portion. The bowl was full, so you can see how much the girls like it. Kevin wasn't home, or there would have been no left overs. Plus, it is a very sneaky way to get them to eat fresh veggies!

Black Bean Salsa:
7-9 roma tomatoes
1 large yellow pepper (you can use green or red, I just like the flavor of the yellow)
1-2 large poblano peppers
2 serrano peppers (or to your hotness taste)
1 15 ounce can black beans (or that amount of cooked from scratch beans, what I do)
1 15 ounce can corn (or even better, that amount of frozen sweet white corn, defrosted)
1 medium to large red onion
1 bunch cilantro
1-2 limes
2-3 tsp. ground cumin
about 1 1/2 tsp. salt
about 1 Tbsp. white sugar

Dice the tomatoes, onions and peppers and place in a large bowl. I like to seed the serranos, because we don't like it too hot. When you cut the serranos, make them as teeny-tiny as you possible can and then wash, wash, wash your hands. Add the corn, which has been drained. Drain and rinse the black beans several times until the water from them runs clear. Add to the bowl. Take the bunch of cilantro and cut it up with a pair of kitchen shears. Add to the bowl. Sprinkle seasonings over the vegetables and mix well. Cut limes and squeeze the juice over the vegetables. Mix well and then taste. Season according to taste. Kevin likes a bit more sugar, to cut the acidity of the tomatoes and I like a lot of cumin. Mess around with it until you get your favorite taste. Let sit in the fridge at least 30 minutes for the flavors to blend.

The salsa is better with frozen corn, but I can't get that here. Or you could use fresh corn on the cob, cut it off and blanch for 2-3 minutes, cool and then add to the salsa.


For dinner tonight I made the salsa, then grilled some chicken breasts and made some rice that I cooked in chicken broth, in place of the water. Served the rice with chicken on the side. Covered the chicken with salsa and then gave the girls a big scoop of salsa on the side to eat with tortilla chips. It would have been really yummy if I had melted a bit of Colby jack cheese on top of the chicken breast before putting the salsa on top..... thought of that one too late.

I have started cooking the black beans from a bag of dried beans and then putting a serving in a plastic container and freezing them. Then I just pop a container out of the freezer and put it in the fridge the night before (if I think of it), or I will defrost it by letting it sit in a larger container of hot water, like I did today, since I didn't plan ahead. The canned beans are a lot more expensive here than the dried ones, and black beans are very easy to cook.

Give this a try and see if you like it! Buen Provecho!
-Kim